Hands free phone usage

[Muse]

I often use my cell phone rather than my land line just because I have a real cool headset for the cell phone, a plantronics. This is especially when I'm at the computer.

I have a speakerphone next to my computer, but it doesn't have a plug to accommodate a headset. People seem to have trouble hearing me when I use the speakerphone.

So I'm thinking of getting a device to give me hands free phone with my land line so I won't be running up my cell phone minutes. I know that Plantronics makes good stuff for that (I have used it on jobs). What's the most bang for the buck?

 

[Muse]

bump

 

[corkyg]

You really can't go wrong with Plantronics. It is top quality stuff - and personally, I always figure that the best is worth the bucks. My choice would be the Plantronics CS50 - completely wireless. There are cheaper products, but not many as good, and the best price for this $250 item is about $165. To me that's pretty good bang.

If bucks are more of a problem, look at some of Jabra's wireless models.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: corkyg
You really can't go wrong with Plantronics. It is top quality stuff - and personally, I always figure that the best is worth the bucks. My choice would be the Plantronics CS50 - completely wireless. There are cheaper products, but not many as good, and the best price for this $250 item is about $165. To me that's pretty good bang.

If bucks are more of a problem, look at some of Jabra's wireless models.

Thanks.

I just had an idea. Why can't you get something that's a headset (monaural) that will plug into your telephone with one of those telephone jacks? It seems to me that would be real easy to design, develop and market. I mean, my speakerphone that's about 3 feet from my head right now has a typical old-fashioned ear and mouth talk-listen that's connected with a typical spiral cord with one of those jacks on either end which disconnects when you pull back the plastic retaining clip. Isn't there a headset with a cord with one of those connectors? Say Radioshack??

I checked out Amazon for that recommended wireless Plantronics. Several people really praise it but one guy said it's rubbish:

My company supplies these cordless headsets to its employees so I have alot of experience using headsets. This is the latest upgrade and it is the worst unit I have ever used. It works great for about 3 or 4 months on average. After that, the voice unit stops working. I can hear others speaking to me but no one can hear me. I have gone through 4 of these units in 13 months and the longest lived unit lasted < 5 months. One broke after < 2 months. Other colleagues have complained about the same thing happening with their units. After the experiences I have had with this piece of junk, I would never buy anything from Plantronics with my own money. Avoid this rubbish.

 

[corkyg]

Interesteting. So - take a look at this one - obviously less $$$. Logitech usually does what they say they do.
Head

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Interesteting. So - take a look at this one - obviously less $$$. Logitech usually does what they say they do.
Head

Those look good. I presume they are stereo, but they are evidently meant for computer use, not regular telephone usage. I'm thinking now, I may just get another cordless speaker phone such as the one I got from this Hot Deals thread about 4 years ago.. It's a Panasonic 900 MHz Cordless Phone with Call Waiting Caller ID*, KX-TC1703B and the cordless handset has a built in speakerphone that seems to work satisfactorily, which I can't say for the non-cordless GE speakerphone that presently sits next to my monitor. I got the Panasonic 4 years ago online for around 30 bucks. A good speakerphone seems functionally equivalent to a telephone headset and doesn't have the downside of the technical problems typically associated with headsets -- I've read a lot of posts from people about how they go bad after a while. I have a couple of cell phone headsets from Plantronics, and so far so good... but I figure it's because I've been pretty careful with them.